


Secret in the Water

by Caiti (Caitriona_3)



Series: Mythology March [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Mythology - Freeform, Other, mythology march
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 11:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14019174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/pseuds/Caiti
Summary: Naiads are known for the healing powers of their waters - and Darcy intends to use them for the good of her partners.





	Secret in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> It has been a **busy** week! Sorry this took so long.
> 
> Tumblr prompt for Mythology March - sarbear1610 asked for Darcy/Clint/Natasha & naiad

[ ](https://imgur.com/TB77BvH)

Darcy walked into the room to find a bruised and bloody Clint staring at her pool, still dressed in his torn uniform. She bit back a growl of frustration. “You’re supposed to be in the water,” she reminded him as she dropped her armful of towels on a nearby chair. “Not staring at it.”

“You have a pool.”

“Yeah…” She stepped over to his side. “I told you I did.”

“I thought you meant a huge tub or something,” he protested. “Not an actual pool - like for swimming!” He waved a hand towards the water. “Why do you have a **pool** in your apartment?”

“Jane and Tony.” She shrugged at his unimpressed stare. “What? They kept trying to one up each other. I took advantage.”

“So you got a pool?”

“Look, Birdbrain, I’ll give you the whole story, but only if you lose the uniform and get in the water.”

Clint turned towards her, a wicked light beginning to play in his eyes. “If you wanted to get me naked, Darcy, all you had to do-.”

“Right.” Darcy rolled her eyes. “Because bloody, bruised, and beaten is such a turn on.” He pouted, prompting her to sigh. “You’re always sexy, hot shot, but I like being able to see that handsome face.”

“So I’ll shower.”

“No - you’ll get in the water.”

“Seems pretty important to you,” he began.

“Quit arguing and get in the damn water.”

Both of them turned towards the door to see Tasha leaning on the door jamb. Darcy’s eyes narrowed on the redhead. The woman held herself a little too still, too stiff - like she was trying too hard to be casual. With a huff, Darcy pivoted around to face the spy. Planting her hands on her hips, she leveled a glare at the older woman. “And what happened to you?”

“Took a fall.”

She waited, but no further information seemed to be forthcoming. “Did you go by medical?”

Tasha gave her a single slow blink as if wondering why she bothered to ask the question. It wasn’t like Darcy didn’t already know the answer. Making a noise that fell somewhere between a growl and a scream, the young brunette threw up her hands. “The two of you could try the patience of a saint!”

Matching smiles filled with smug satisfaction greeted her announcement.

“No.” Darcy gave a firm shake of her head. “This is **not** a good thing.”

“It’s funny,” Clint pointed out.

“Not when you’re bleeding and Tasha can’t move properly!” She gave him a quick jab in the side. Her lips thinned at the pained gasp she got in return. “That’s it. Both of you - I don’t care what you wear, just get in the pool.”

They exchanged a glance, but she folded her arms over her chest. A few eyebrow movements and lip twitches later, both spies shrugged and stripped down to their underwear. At any other time, Darcy would have been severely distracted, but the sheer amount of black and blue skin made her fingers tremble. Yes, she knew they did this kind of thing all the time and injuries were a part of it, but . . . they hadn’t been so central to her life before.

Now? 

Now she watched with determined focus as the two of them slid into the soft water with small hisses and relieved sighs. She sat down, dangling her legs over the side and letting her power flow out into the water. Enough of her essence should already permeate it enough to help, but she wanted to be sure.

A smile settled on her lips as she watched them soak and swim and splash at each other. Neither of them seemed to notice their healing injuries. She knew that wouldn’t last, but she could hope. 

She couldn’t give out her family’s secret as yet…no matter how much she wanted to do so.

“How’d you get the pool?” Clint demanded after several long minutes of soaking and playing, swimming over to prop his arms on the side beside her. 

Tasha waved a hand from where she floated lazily. “Why did you get a pool?” she called out. “Not a bad idea,” she added, “but it wouldn’t be the first thing to come to my mind.”

“That’s because you’d go for a ballet practice room.” Darcy lifted a brow at Clint as he chuckled. “Don’t get too cocky,” she warned him. “We all know you’d want a shooting range.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved that off. “About your pool?”

“I told you, Jane and Tony were going at it,” she began, lips twitching as he rolled his eyes. Dipping a hand in the water, she flicked some at him. He pretended to duck and she laughed before continuing the story. “Tony wanted Jane in the Tower so he could add to his collection of geniuses. And my boss lady really didn’t think she needed to be here.”

“I can understand her feelings,” Tasha commented. 

“Not me,” Darcy shrugged. “I’m all for free housing in Manhattan.” She heaved out a sigh. “But where goes Jane…”

“There goes your flag,” Clint finished as he wrapped a hand around her ankle.

“You pull me in there, and you get no dessert.” Warning given, she brushed her hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp. His eyes fell half closed as he leaned into the touch. “Anyway, if Jane wouldn’t come, then neither would Thor, so Tony decided to start trying to bribe her.” Mischief filled her voice. “Jane countered by coming up with crazy requirements - and she told us to do the same.”

“So you asked for a pool.”

“My file doesn’t show my obsession with water?” 

“We didn’t arrive in New Mexico until Mjolnir did,” Clint reminded her. “You didn’t spend much time in the pool after that.”

“Things got kinda busy.”

A small huff of amusement drew their attention to Tasha as she flipped over to tread water. “Understatement.”

“Point.” Darcy tilted her head and then nodded in agreement. “And after that, you went with Erik,” she noted, eyes fixing on Clint. Then she glanced to Tasha. “And you didn’t meet us until after Tromso.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you’d still have read our files.”

“I did.” The spy pursed her lips. “And it mentioned your love of social media as well as your anger over your iPod being stolen.” She tilted her head. “Nothing about water.”

“Nice to know my SHIELD file’s incomplete,” Darcy chuckled, the smug sound drawing laughter from her companions as well. “But yeah, I’ve always loved being in the water, especially lakes and ponds - natural places. So when Jane told me to give Tony some big crazy demand for my apartment, I told him I wanted a private pool, the more natural the better.”

“And in order to get Jane to move into the Tower, Tony gave you a pool.”

“A mineral pool,” she clarified. “One that can help on days like this.” Her fingers trailed down his jawbone. 

“Careful,” he began, “I’ve got a…” Clint’s voice trailed away as confusion flickered in his expression. He reached up to touch his jaw. “I **had** a bad scrape there.” Blue eyes lifted to meet a knowing green. “Darce?”

She gave him a soft smile, but then she glanced over to Tasha, ignoring his question. “How do you feel?”

“Loose,” the older woman decided after a moment’s thought. “My ribs don’t hurt anymore.” She paused, twisting in the water even as her gaze remained steady on the pair at the edge of the pool. “And the muscles have relaxed.”

“Good.” Satisfaction curled Darcy’s mouth into an approving smile. “Then you can both get out now.” She began to pull her legs up.

“Darcy.” Clint held onto her ankle, preventing her from moving. Usually she enjoyed being the target of that intense focus, but at the moment she felt too exposed. “You’re not telling us something.”

Tasha drew closer. “Minerals wouldn’t heal us this quickly.”

Biting her lip, Darcy looked down at her hands. Apparently she remained silent too long and Clint pulled himself out of the water to sit beside her. “Baby-,” he began.

“It’s not my secret.”

She winced as she heard the words blurting out of her own mouth. Her shoulders slumped and she gave them a pleading look, her attention moving between them as she spoke. “Or, well, rather it’s not just **my** secret.” 

“Who’s is it?” Tasha asked, pulling herself up on Darcy’s other side.

“My family’s,” Darcy admitted. “It’s a family thing. I’ve asked them for permission to tell you, and they’re talking about it, but…” She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “We’ve usually don’t tell people until they actually join the family.”

“Do we need to meet them?” 

Clint’s question drew a startled blink from Darcy, but Tasha nodded. “If that’s what you need us to do, then we can do that.”

A sheen of tears filled her eyes, but she kept them from falling. Neither of them ever liked to see her cry, even if they were happy tears. “I want you to meet them,” she replied, “but because of this. I want us to go on a big happy holiday where I can introduce you to them in a bright joyful celebration. This?” She shook her head. “I want them to trust me enough to know I wouldn’t ask without knowing I could trust **you**.” Lifting her chin in determination. “And their decision won’t make any difference to me.”

“You’re going to tell us?”

“I promise,” Darcy agreed, her hand curling around Tasha’s. “Whether they agree with me or not, I’m going to tell you, but…”

“You want to try to get them to agree first.” Clint pressed a kiss to her temple before resting his chin on top of her head. “We trust you, Baby. We’ll wait.”

When Tasha nodded in agreement, pressing close on her other side, Darcy finally let herself relax into their hold. Her eyes fell shut as she breathed out in a low sigh of relief. One day soon she’d tell them, give them her family’s secret, but for now, their trust meant everything.


End file.
